Should We Teach Habibi?

I was very interested to hear about the West Bloomfield school district's decision to cut Habibi from the curriculum. I thought that this was an extremely poor decision. I did agree with some parents that Habibi wasn't used to its full potential. However, the book was not intended to teach about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict; it was included in a unit about diversity. The book does portray many aspects of Arabic culture. If the book was supposed to teach about the conflict between the Jews and Arabs, more literature would definitely be needed to provide a fair and accurate portrayal of the situation in Isreal, and other cultures, particularly Jews. Furthermore, I think the teachers needed to provide more scaffolding for the students in order to use the book effectively. The conflict over the land in Isreal has a long and complicated history, and teachers should have explained it to students before reading the novel.

I was so upset about the removal of the novel from the curriculum because I believe it is a form of censorship. Parents didn't seem to understand that the students were not being encouraged to follow the author's ways of thinking about the subject. The parents, staff, and students needed to keep in mind that the novel is written by an Arab woman, so it makes sense that she would portray Arabs in a favorable light. Also, although there is definitely violence committed by both Jews and Arabs in Isreal, the Jews are in control of the country and the Arabs are currently being oppressed. This is not to say that either Jews or Arabs are the rightful people of Isreal; I just think that the current politics of the area need to be considered. I was bothered that the school board removed the book from the curriculum instead of adapting the curriculum to include the book in a way that made all parents comfortable. What kind of message are we sending to children if we say that certain books are not appropriate for the classroom? If I was in a position of leadership in this situation, I would encourage balanced literature and class discussion about the Jewish/Arabic conflict in Isreal, and about the many different cultures portrayed in the novel, whether or not the portrayals were favorable. I think it would have been an excellent opportunity to discuss misconceptions even in literature, and the school board hindered the students' learning and critical thinking by removing the book from the curriculum.